Other
Maura Kilpatrick
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Maura Kilpatrick is the Pastry Chef and co-owner of Sofra Bakery & Cafe in Cambridge and Allston, Massachusetts, a role that places her at the intersection of craft, leadership, and ownership. She shares ownership of the business, and that dual position gives her work both a creative heartbeat and a steady hand.
The Path
Maura Kilpatrick trained at California Culinary Academy, a foundational step that helped shape the discipline and precision behind her pastry work. The path led her to Sofra, where she has been Executive Pastry Chef and co-owner and Pastry Chef of Sofra since 2008. Over time, that title has come to suggest more than a job description: it signals a long-running commitment to a bakery and cafe that moves between neighborhood rhythm and the quiet artistry of pastry. Her career at Sofra has unfolded over years of daily production, recipe-making, and the kind of consistency that lets a signature style take root. As Executive Pastry Chef and co-owner and Pastry Chef of Sofra, she stands at the center of the business’s sweet side, balancing the demands of the kitchen with the responsibilities of ownership.
The Work Today
Today, Maura is still Pastry Chef and co-owner at Sofra Bakery & Cafe, with the business operating in Cambridge and Allston. The work lives in the details: the shaping, the finishing, the steady attention pastry asks for, day after day. Her role centers on pastry, but it also carries the broader weight of stewardship, since the title combines kitchen leadership with ownership responsibility. That combination gives her work a particular texture, one that is part hands-on and part architectural, part oven-side timing and part long-view decision-making. At Sofra Bakery & Cafe, in both Cambridge and Allston, the pastry program remains tied to her presence and oversight, making her position as Pastry Chef and co-owner central to the identity of the business.
Signature
Maura's signature dishes include Flower Pogaca Rolls and Tahini Cookies. Both speak to the kind of pastry sensibility that can feel at once generous and exacting: the Flower Pogaca Rolls carrying the visual appeal implied by their name, and the Tahini Cookies suggesting a more quietly layered richness. Together, they offer a glimpse of the range associated with her work at Sofra, where pastry is not simply a category but a language of texture, flavor, and form.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Maura
What is Maura Kilpatrick's current role?
As of 2026, Maura Kilpatrick is Pastry Chef and Co-Owner.
Where did Maura Kilpatrick train or study?
Maura Kilpatrick trained at California Culinary Academy.
